Vise with split adjustable jaws



June 8, 1954 E. B. CHRISTIANSEN vxss WITH SPLIT ADJUSTABLE JAWS 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 29, 1949 I frwooo 5. Chr/sf/cmsen INVENTOR.

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June 8, 1954 v E. B. CHRISTIANSEN 2,680,395

VISE WITH SPLIT ADJUSTABLE JAWS Filed Oct. 29, 1949 a Sheets-Sheet s [rm000 B: (hr/s f/ansen INVENTOR.

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, Patented June 8, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- VISE WITH SPLITADJUSTABLE JAWS Erwood B. Christianscn, Galveston, Tex.

Application October 29, 1949, Serial No. 124,426

Claims. (01. 81-17) This invention relates to a vise and has for itsgeneral object the provision of a vise on which many operations may beperformed which could not be performed with previously known visestructures and other operations can be performed with greater facilitythan with previously known vise structures.

It is the primary object of this invention to prodirectly or with ashearing movement, or in which an article may be bent to a complexshape, as well as a vise in which various other operations can becarried out.

Other objects and advantages of this-invention will become apparent fromthe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example oneembodiment of this invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a vise constructed in accordancewith this invention.

Figure 2 is an exploded view still in perspective illustrative of thesame vise as shown in Figure 1 but with the parts separated slightlyfrom each other so as to provide a more detailed illustration of theirstructure.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the gripping jaws and associated parts ofthe vise illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the vise illustrated in Figure 1. IFigure 5 is a detailed view of a fragment of the vise shown in Figures 1to 3 and illustrating a portion of the means for shifting the jaws ofone pair of jaws laterally toward and away from each other.

Figures 6 to 10 inclusive are fragmentary perspective views showing thegripping portions only of the jaws of the vise and illustrating variousoperations which may be carried out with the vise constructed inaccordance with this invention.

Referrin now more in detail to the drawing, it will be seen that thevise as illustrated-in Figure 1 is adapted to be mounted upon a table I2 or other like support, although it will be appreciated that some otherform of support may be employed. In the instance illustrated, the base 2of the vise is secured by means of leg screws 3 to the table I, theseleg screws passing through suitable lugs 4 formed integral with the base2.

In the instance illustrated the base of the vise is provided with aswivel mounting of a well known type, the part 5 being adapted to swivelupon the base 2 and to be clamped in place in a desired position bymeans of a clamping screw 6. Rigidly carried on the base member 5 in theusual fashion is a guide 1 adapted to receive the slide bar 8, and theslide bar 8 is adapted to be moved to and fro within the guide I bymeans of a'screw 9 having a handle 9a.

The vise as described up to this point is of more or less conventionalconstruction and is to be understood that the details of constructionneed not be exactly those illustrated or described but may be any otherconventional vise construction not inconsistent with the features ofthis invention presently to be set forth, whether such details bedetails now known to be conventional, or details which may become knownin the future.

Coming now to the features which distinguish this invention and by whichit is enabled to perform the desired results, base member 5 isillustrated as having mounted above the guide I a guide [0 which isdisposed at right angles to the guide 1 and is adapted to receive aslide H which by virtue of this mounting may slide in a directiontransversely to the direction of movement of the slide 8. The slide H isadapted to be moved transversely along the guide [0 by means of a screw12 which lies in a groove provided for the purpose in the upper surfaceof the guide l0, such groove'being smooth on its inner surface so thatthe screw l2 may freely rotate therein. Screw i2 is provided with areduced section 13 intermediate its ends, which section l3 fits within alikewise reduced portion of the groove in the guide [0, so that thescrew l2 will be permitted to rotate but not to move endwise withrespect to the guide 10. The screw It is noted that the screw 12 liesabout half in the groove in the guide and is adapted to extend along itsupper half in a somewhat similar groove within the lower surface of theslide H. The difference, however, is that the interior of the groove inthe slide H is threaded to receive the screw threads l5 and I6 wherebyupon rotation of the screw 12 the slide ll will be moved along the guideit) in one direction or the other.

On its upper surface the slide l I is itself formed with a guide H whichmay be termed a jaw guide inasmuch as it is adapted to receive and guidethe jaws l8 and I9. These jaws l8 and I9 form a pair with slide portionsengaging the guide El and with threaded portions in a half groove intheir respective under surfaces which threaded portions are adapted toreceive the oppositely threaded sections 26 and 2! of the screw that isrotated and mounted in a half groove in the :upper surface of the guideN. that this screw has two threaded sections and is in that mannersimilar to the screw 12, but that it differs from the screw 12 in thatthe two threaded sections 29 and 2! are oppositely threaded, that is oneis threaded with a right hand threadand the other with a left handthread, so that when this screw is rotated the two jaws l8 and [9 willbe moved simultaneously toward-or away from each other. Intermediatethese two threaded sections this screw is formed with a reduced portion22 fitting in a reduced part of the groove in the guide I! for thepurpose of preventing endwise movement of the screw within the guide inthe same manner as described in connection with the screw Hi. This screwin the guide I? may be rotated by means of a wrench fitting into anoncircular hole 23 in one or both ends of the screw or in any othersuitable fashion.

The gripping jaws i8 and it are providedwith gripping faces, there beingtwo such faces on each jaw. One of these faces 24 on the jaw I8 facestoward the jaw l9 and the other face 25 on the jaw it faces towardanother pair of jaws as will presently be described. In the samefashion, the

gripping face 26 on the jaw l9 faces toward the jaw 18 and the grippingface -21 on the jaw l9 faces toward the other pair of jaws which will bedescribed.

Referring now to the mounting for the other pair of jaws referred to,this consists of a jaw guide 28 which extends in a direction parallel-tothe guides l0 and I? previously described and which is adapted toreceive for transverse sliding movement the jaws 29 and 30. These jawsare provided with threaded half grooves in their under surfaces in thesame fashionas the jaws l8 and I9, and also in the same fashion thesethreaded half grooves are provided with reversely threaded portions,that is, one portion in the jaw 29 may be of right hand thread and theportion in the jaw 36 .of left handthread, or vice versa. There is alsoprovided a screw having reversely threaded portions 35 and 32 adapted tofit with the threaded half grooves in the jaws '29 and 38 respectivelyso as to move these two jaws in opposite directions when the screw isrotated. The screw is prevented from endwise movement within its halfgroove in the slide 28 by the reduced mid-section 33 which fits within aportion of the groove in the slide 28 which is of correspondinglyreduced cross section. The screw may be rotated in any suitable fashionas by means of a key or wrench inserted in a noncircular hole 34 in theend of the screw.

The jaw 29 is provided with a gripping surface.

It is to be noted 3'5 which faces toward the jaw and with a grippingsurface 35 which faces toward the opposed pair of jaws l8 and 19.Likewise, jaw 30 is provided with a gripping surface 3! which facestoward the jaw 29 and with a gripping surface 38 which faces toward theopposed pair of jaws l8 and [9.

In operation it will be seen that the vise just described may be used asan ordinary vise by moving the two pairs of jaws l8 and [9 on the onehand and 29 and 39 on the other hand until their respective grippingsurfaces 24 and 26, and 3E and 37, are in contact, and by moving theslide ii until it is centered on the guide ill. However, these two jawsthus formed by bringing together the twopairs of jaws may be offsetlaterally from each other by operation of the screw 12 to move the slideI l to the one side or to the other. Such rotation of the screw l2 willof course result in the shifting of one of the two pairs of jaws as aunit in a direction laterally with respect to the other pair. That is,the movement of shifting will be a shearing movement. v

It will also be apparent that both jaws of either pair may besimultaneously moved apart so as to separate their gripping surfaces 2 3and 26 or 35 and 31 as the case may be.

The numerous applications to which a vise of the character described maybe put cannot all be set forth herein, but some are illustrated inFigures 6 to 10, inclusive, of the drawings.

In Figure 6 there is illustrated a situation in which two fiat members39 and ll] are gripped in overlapping relation to each other but withtheir overlapping parts free of any gripping members so that they may bepunched or perhaps, if desired, drilled by means such as a drill 4!. Anyother desired operation may be performed on these overlapping partswithout interference from the gripping portions of the vise.

, With reference to Figure 7,. it will be seen that the vise may beemployed for the purpose of gripping a strip of material 42 having anintermediate offset portion '33 so that the two ends of the strip ofmaterial are not in the same plane. It will further be appreciated thata strip of material which does all lie in a single plane may be bent tothe shape of that illustrated in Figure 7 by first gripping it betweenthe individual jaws of the two pairs of jaw respectively, and by thenmanipulating the screws 9 and 12 to bring the two pairs of jaws closerto each other and to simultaneously cause them to move laterally withthe shearing motion with respect to each other so as to produce thecentral offset portion 43.

In Figure 8 there is illustrated an operation in which a pin or bar i lmay be forced through an opening in a plate 45 or the like, the jaws l8and 9 for this purpose being separated from each other so as to permitthe bar a: to pass between them, and the jaws 2a and .38 being movedtogether so as to contact the end of the bar 44 and force it through theopening in the plate 45. In such an operation the bar i-l might beforced into tight engagement with the plate .45 or might be forced outof the plate 45, as desired.

In Figure 9 the vise is illustrated as being employed for the purpose ofgripping an irregularly shaped member 56 having laterally extendingflanges or parts 4'! and At which are out of alignment with each other.With an ordinary vise it would be impossible to grip this memher on bothsides of the flanges ll and Q8, but with this vise not only may the mainbody portion of this irregularly shaped member be gripped on both sidesof both of the flanges 41 and 48, but thefianges 41 and 48 maythemselves be gripped between the individual jaws of the respectivepairs of jaws.

In Figure there is illustrated a situation in which a fiat member 49 maybe gripped in such fashion as to leave its central portion free for thework such as filing, drilling, or the like. At the same time, both endportions of the member 49 are gripped tightly so that there will be noexcessive vibration or looseness to interfere with the accuracy of thework.

Many other operations than those illustrated and described may becarried out with a vise constructed in accordance with this invention,

and it will be appreciated that the details of construction of the viseitself may be varied and that in certain instances wherein all of theadvantageous features of this vise may not be necessary, some of themmay be omitted and others employed.

It will thus be seen that a structure has been described and illustratedwhich is fully capable of carrying out and accomplishing all the objectsand advantages sought by this invention.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A vise comprising supporting means, a first member secured to thesupporting means, a bar slidable in the first member, a second membercarried by the bar, screw means for adjusting the second member towardand from the first member, a third member slidably connected to thefirst member and movable laterally with respect to the bar, screw meansfor adjusting the third member laterally with respect to the firstmember, jaw means slidably connected to each of said second and thirdmembers, the jaw means for one of said members comprising a jaw and thejaw means for the other of said members comprising a pair of jaws inopposed relation to said jaw, and screw means for adjusting the jaws ofsaid pair of jaws toward and away from each other.

2. In a vise, in combination with a base, a first and second jawmountings mounted on said base for relative sliding movement toward andaway from each other, a first jaw mounted on said first jaw mounting, ajaw guide having a slide and guide connection to said second jawmounting for movement of the jaw guide tranversely of the direction ofrelative movement of said jaw mountings, a pair of jaws each slidablymounted on said jaw guide for movement toward and away from each otherin a direction parallel to that of said jaw guide, each jaw of said pairhaving two gripping surfaces, one disposed toward the other jaw of thepair and the other disposed toward said first jaw, power means formoving said first and second jaw mountings relatively toward and fromeach other and for moving the jaws of said pair toward and from eachother on said jaw guide and for moving said jaw guide with respect tosaid second jaw mounting, the means for moving the jaws of said pairtoward and from each other acting on each jaw of the pair simultaneously and equally to keep the jaws of the pair equidistant from apredetermined point on said jaw guide.

3. The vise of claim 2 wherein said first jaw has a slide and guideconnection with said first jaw mounting for movement of said first jawtransversely of the direction of relative movement of said first andsecond jaw mountings.

4. A vise comprising a supported first member, a bar slidable in thefirst member, a second member integral with the bar, screw means foradjusting the second member toward and from the first member, a thirdmember slidably connected to the first member and movable laterally withrespect to the bar, screw means for adjusting the third member laterallywith respect to the first member, pairs of jaws slidably connected,respectively, to the second and third members and movable laterally withrespect to the bar, screw means for adjusting the jaws of each pair ofjaws toward and from each other, and gripping faces formed on each jawand arranged at right angles to each other.

5. A vise comprising supporting means, a first member secured to thesupporting means, a bar slidable in the first member and carrying asecond member, screw means for adjusting the second member toward andfrom the first member, a third member slidably connected to the firstmember and movable laterally with respect to the bar, screw means foradjusting the third member laterally with respect to the first member,two pairs of jaws each slidably connected, respectively, to the secondand third members and movable laterally with respect to the bar, screwmeans for adjusting the jaws of each pair of jaws toward and from eachother, and gripping faces formed on each jaw and arranged at rightangles to each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,125,253 Barber Jan. 19, 1915 1,257,152 Tozer Feb. 19, 19181,471,118 Gething Oct. 16, 1923 2,322,380 Mosley, Jr. June 22, 19432,366,519 Greenberg Jan. 2, 1945 2,463,966 Hauschild Mar. 8, 19492,552,094 Hamon et a1. May 8, 1951

